Re: looking at a '83 Islander
Re: looking at a '83 Islander
It's a tough call for sure. Both are awesome boats each with their own pros and cons ya know. I don't think there is a wrong answer here but one is more right for you and your family buddy.
That Chieftain is sweeeet! It looks like a really great rig. You have a huge cabin there for sure. She is all set up for the OB to bolt on. Great hull, great trailer, just super cool you know. I'd bet if you were standing on that deck you'd be wondering where all the room went though. With the big cabin and splashwell the size of Nebraska that deck gets squeezed for sure. But maybe that is a trade you are happy to make, big cabin and OB for a smaller deck. I do agree that the motor that may (or may not) go with this one is probably DOA - there is a reason it's not on the boat.
The Islander is equally awesome for all the reasons I posted up above there. The wild card is really the IO. I totally agree with EZ about bringing it up to date if the seller hasn't maintained it in a while. There could be some expensive things that need to be done. At the same time though, the regular maintenance stuff isn't all that pricey when you do the work yourself (bellows, gimble bearing, impeller, oil change, yada, yada). A pain in the rump to do but maybe a couple of hundred bucks or so to complete. That is why I am thinking you have that Duke checked out. You may have a hull with a money pit motor or maybe one that just needs the regular maintenance items completed. If it's the latter you have a lot more bang for your buck on the Islander. If you have a junk motor than you are looking at an empty IO hull and comparing it to an empty OB hull.
If it helps any...
The cabin on my Islander is small when compared to the Chief. It's not really a comfortable space to hang out for adults. I think you can sit and play cards in the cabin of a chief. You can do that in mine too, but not nearly as comfortable I'm sure. Kiddos can play and roll around in there just fine. It will be great for times like a rain storm or a cold day on the lake and I have the family - they can just duck right in there. I can lay down and fully stretch out and have two offspring sleeping comfortably next to me. In a pinch we could fit all five of us in there and sleep, for now anyway (they seem to want to keep eating and growing).
At the same time for me, any opportunity to overnight there will be a shoreline and we'll have a tent (or stars) overhead so the cabin isn't super necessary for that sort of thing. Nice to have if we wanted to though. My bride would never sleep on it, she'd barf her guts out.
For now, I am seeing...
-OB hull vs. IO hull
-big cabin/smaller deck vs. small cabin/bigger deck
-new (used) OB vs. wild card Iron Duke
Side note...
What is up with Roz! Dude she is awesome!!!! She found the boat, has visited and talked with the seller, twice, kids in tow, taken all the photos we see and provided the budget to make it possible. I am betting the next thing we'll be looking at is photos of her painting the trailer and fitting vinyl decking for one of these rigs! Man alive!
Let's see - Mike, so far you've logged onto iboats and chewed the fat with us chuckle heads.:facepalm:
Hey Roz, you rock!
(sheesh, that was a lot of writing there, sorry guys)
